Using Clip Art/Photos on Presentation Slides

The most common slide element used after text is a graphic, usually clip art or a photograph. The old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words” and it is true. Just make sure that the thousand words being spoken by the graphics you use on your presentation slides are words that will increase the impact of your message, not detract from it. Here are some areas to keep in mind when choosing graphics to use on your presentation slides.

Graphics Should Add to the Point
The real reason for using a graphic is to add some flavor to the text that is on the slide. It gives the audience visual variety, which keeps their attention raised. A good choice of graphic can make a point come alive in the audience’s mind. A poor choice of graphic will leave the audience wondering what the point really is since the graphic is inconsistent with the message. I once saw a presentation where a picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was on a slide. It was a beautiful picture, but it had absolutely nothing to do with what was being spoken. Make sure you carefully select each graphic to match the point you are making on that particular slide. I spend far longer choosing a graphic than I do typing in the text.

Choosing Effective Clip Art
The most common graphic used on presentation slides is clip art. Most presentation software packages contain a large number of clip art images to choose from. In most cases, I suggest you avoid the standard ones that ship with the software. So many people use them that the images have become overused and do not stand out anymore. Instead, look for new ones in clip art software packages that you can buy or free sources on the Internet. One of the best sources I have found is Microsoft’s Design Gallery Live (see web link at the end of the article). This is the web site that is automatically loaded when you ask PowerPoint’s clip art function to find an image on the web. You enter a search term and it displays those clip art images that match the keyword you entered. This allows me to select images that most others are not using.

When you are selecting a clip art image, make sure to select one that is stylish looking, not dated looking – it makes your slide look current and your points fresh. Be careful about the colors of the clip art image. It must have enough contrast with your slide background color in order to be seen well. I usually use a dark background for my presentation slides, so I try to pick bright colored clip art. It is usually a good idea to avoid black clip art unless you are using a very light colored background as it is hard to see black on top of most colors.

There is one category of clip art images that I suggest you avoid – animated GIF’s. An animated GIF (GIF = Graphics Interchange Format) is a graphic image that moves. This type of graphic is created by stringing together multiple images that are set to cycle on a time sequence so that the image has movement. The graphic can be set to cycle in a loop endlessly or cycle once and stop. Any movement you have on your presentation slide, especially continuing movement of an image, is very distracting to the audience. It will divert their attention away from your message. These images have been so overused on the Web that many people now consider them to be less than professional and your use will impact your credibility with the audience.

Using Photographs
The other common graphic used on presentation slides is a photograph. This can be a digital photo you have taken, a print you have scanned or a photo supplied in your presentation software package. As in using clip art, select photos that others are not commonly using. The Design Gallery Live web site mentioned above is a good source for photos as well as clip art. Similar to clip art, pay attention to colors of the photo to make sure they contrast well with your slide background so they can be seen. With photographs, you also need to be aware of the emotional impact that a photo has. Unlike clip art, photographs evoke a direct emotional response when shown, they bypass the logic center of our brains. The emotional response tends to be stronger for photos of people than it does for photos of inanimate objects, although there are exceptions. Be careful in using photos that may evoke strong positive or negative emotional responses to make sure that you want that emotion to be in the audience at that point in your presentation.

When you are selecting or taking a digital photograph, one concern is what resolution do I need? If the photo is only being used on a presentation slide, you do not need a high resolution image, a 640×480 image is fine. If the photo will also be used in a print publication, you will need a much higher resolution and it is best to ask the print production staff what resolution they prefer. If you have a high resolution photo that you want to use on your presentation slide, try to have the resolution reduced in a graphic program before you insert the image. A high resolution image takes a lot of disk space to store and inserting a large image file in your presentation will make your presentation file very large and run more slowly.

Modifying Graphic Images
Once you have your graphic image in your presentation slide, you can make some changes to the image that will make it even more effective. Here are some of the most common changes.

Size – The size of the graphic should be big enough to be seen but not too big as to dominate the slide and take the focus away from the text message. To change the size, you can usually just drag an expansion handle at the corner of the image once it has been selected. I suggest using the corner handle to size an image because it keeps the same aspect ratio (the ratio of width to height) and does not distort the image.

Cropping – If the image you want is a portion of the total image, you can crop out the areas you do not want after it is inserted on your slide. This function is usually found in the Properties section of the graphic element. It is a good idea to check the size of the image first before setting the cropping distances from each edge so that you can get closer to the image you want within just a few attempts.

Colors – Some images, clip art usually, allow you to change one or more of the colors used. This function is again usually found in the Properties section of the graphic element on the slide. It allows you to take an image that has low contrast with the slide background color and increase the contrast by changing one or two of the low contrast colors to high contrast colors.

Brightness – Especially when using photographs, the brightness of the photo has a large impact on how well it will look when displayed. This effect is magnified further when the image is displayed on a screen through a data projector in a lighted room. I have found that in many cases I have to make the photo brighter on my screen in order to get a good image through a data projector. The brightness setting is found in the graphic element Properties usually. Check your photos using the data projector you will use and the room lighting if possible. If checking before the presentation is not possible, learn how to set the brightness and be prepared to test the photos and change it if necessary when you set up for your presentation.

If you select your images carefully, the pictures will add “a thousand words” to the message you are delivering and you will increase your impact on the audience.

Dave Paradi’s Think Outside the Slide™ approach helps presenters get results by showing them how to quickly create effective PowerPoint presentations. He is the co-author of “Guide to PowerPoint”, part of the Prentice Hall Series in Advanced Business Communication. He offers a free PowerPoint e-course, newsletter and articles on his web site at www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com.